Apple Tree
by Itako no Anna Kyoyama
Summary: [HaoxAnna]Anna finds an apple tree, undisturbed by the cruelties of life...and Hao finds her.[Second one shot, sort of sweet. Please R&R]


Yet another one shot, this one for a friend of mine whom I currently converted into a HaoNa lover. Everyone needs a good dose of HaoNa once in a while! Please enjoy.

Listen to Northern Lights, the ballad version, while reading this. It really sets the mood.

Disclaimer: if I owned these characters, I wouldn't be simply writing a fanfic.

**--------Apple Trees--------**

It really was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining, the air wasn't too heavy, and the only clouds were small wisps that merely danced across the never-ending blue of the sky above. Anna Kyoyama had taken this opportunity to sneak away from her mundane life of soap operas and the bickering of those around her. If she had to listen to Ren and Horokue go at it one more time…

Shaking her head to rid herself of such thoughts, the blonde let her wooden sandals carry her wherever they felt, having no sense of purpose to her wandering. It was a rarity that she took the chance to do such things—if she wasn't training Yoh, she was expected to be in front of the TV. If she wasn't doing either of those things, she was probably out bickering with the fire shaman, Hao.

_Hao…_

After a long while of merely wandering where the wind took her, the Itako found herself atop a hill—the grass was lush and greener than she had seen it anywhere else, and there, like a lone, beautiful statue, in the middle of the hill, was an apple tree. Of course, it was much too late in the season for the white flowers to be in full bloom—mostly, the ground around it was littered with the petals, many dead, but some still white—inspecting the tree, the Itako was only able to find two flowers still intact.

It was an eerily beautiful sight, one that she could fully appreciate now that there was no one around her. It was peaceful…Hao felt like this when he saw untouched nature, didn't he? Peaceful. Thinking about all of the millions of trees such as this one that were being cut down at this very moment, and staring at that beautiful, somehow innocent lone one before her, it was easy to understand his goal, and why he wanted it.

But that didn't mean she agreed with it. No, she would never agree with it, would she? Annihilating all humans meant the children that were as innocent as this tree…

A pale hand reached out to feel the rough bark, letting her fingers memorize the lines and curves. It was so alive. Her façade down now that she was alone, she gave a soft smile that lit up her angelic face. Perhaps this would be her special spot…

Yet this silent peace was not to last. There was a flare of heat at her back, and Anna sensed him—Hao. He had just arrived upon his Great Fire Spirit, and was now standing right behind her. She didn't need to look at him. She kept her hand on the bark of the tree, her eyes staring up into the branches that spanned above her, reaching towards the sky, towards freedom. She said not a word to him, and he said nothing to her. His expression, though she couldn't see it to know, was full of something near wonder as he watched the blonde, the wind gently whipping her bandana and dress around her, her hair floating on the breeze, her profile outlined in the sun, dark eyelashes like sweet butterfly kisses.

He could admit she was beautiful. But she was also a royal pain, sometimes. No matter—she would be his someday. His Shaman Queen. Though she refused him time and time again, he knew he would get to her eventually. He was Asakura Hao, and he got what he wanted.

After a few long moments of merely watching her, he stepped up next to her, his hair billowing out with his poncho as he did such. She did not budge, but she did take her eyes from the branches to watch as he plucked one of the only two flowers from the tree. His dark eyes inspected it for a long moment, and then he brought it to his nose and took a long whiff of the fragrant perfume. Anna, on the other hand, reached up and took an apple, shined it briefly on the hem of her dress, and then bit into it in a bored manner as she turned from him. Hao just let out a soft chuckle at her determination not to acknowledge him. As she turned away, he was thankful that today she wore her bandana around her neck—it made things simpler.

Her reached out, and placed the white blossom behind her ear. Startled, the Itako whirled on him, her hand coming up to feel the flower there. The fire shaman before her just gave that smile of his, that one that looked so much like Yoh, innocent and lazy—but his held a tint of mischief to it, a secret that he wouldn't ever tell.

She hated that smile. Yet, some dark part of her loved that smile as well.

What was he up to, anyways, putting a flower in her hair? She watched him suspiciously, but still, neither said a word. It was as though they were scared to disturb the silence of this area. Hao took a seat under the tree, stirring up the petals on the ground as he did so, so that a few caught on the breeze and floated up, past his face, one getting caught in his hair.

Anna had the urge to reach out and free that blossom, and feel if that hair was really as soft as it looked. Her hand twitched slightly at her side as she watched him, but she did nothing more.

Instead, she turned to leave, her special place no longer her own. It was then that Hao spoke up.

"Anna-chan…" He cooed, his voice gentle but teasing at the same time, and the Itako's brow furrowed at his casual familiarities. He had no right to call to her as though they were friends. Turning slowly on her heel, she placed both hands on her hips in a defiant stance, glaring down her nose at him. "What?"

If anything, the fire shaman pretended to be taken aback by her show of contempt. "My, my, so mean, my Anna…" Purred he, his voice light and seductive. The Itako hissed.

"I am not yours."

There was a pause as the seated male gathered a few fallen petals in his hand, inspecting them with the utmost interest. Finally, he raised that hand, and let the wind take them. The silence prolonged as he watched them dance upon the wind, carried higher and higher until they disappeared into the blue of the sky.

"But you are, Anna. You are engaged to Yoh, and so you are mine as well." His logic really made perfect sense to him. But Anna apparently didn't see it his way. She took a step towards him, and this time her voice was a firm line. "You are not Yoh. You will never be one with Yoh. Stop this nonsense, Hao."

A chuckle escaped the male, and he stood with a mock exasperated sigh, advancing upon the stubborn girl before him. She held her ground firmly, as he had expected. When he was a mere six inches before her, he reached out his hand, brushing a few strands of blonde out of her dark arks. She flinched and slapped his hand away, and he caught her wrist, using it to pull her to him. "Anna-chan…why can't you understand?" It was his turn to grow slowly frustrated. He wanted her, and yet she was the one thing that he couldn't seem to have, no matter how hard he tried. He was confident Yoh would be his in time, and so would the Great Spirit…but Anna…Anna he was not confident about. Perhaps that was what drew him to her. She was a challenge, and he relished a challenge. He would make her see somehow…

The startled Itako was pulled roughly against his chest, and her eyes widened in brief surprise. She made ready to use her legendary left hand, but as soon as her hand was pulled back, his voice was in her ear, a whisper that sent chills through her spine. "So beautiful…my Anna…"

What was this? She didn't understand this at all--! Her hand faltered in mid air, and she tried to regain her composure, but it wasn't going to happen…

She saw him pull back. She saw him leaning in. She had time to register it.

But she didn't. Because as she registered it, there was the feeling of warm, sweet lips against hers, and the shocked Itako's left hand fell to dangle uselessly at her side, the apple falling from her grip to roll down the hill.

_Hao…_

Her eyes were wide with the feeling this sent through her. Her first kiss…her very first kiss…

His lips were soft but dominate, passion and fire breathing from him. But as soon as it started, it was over, and he stepped back, his eyes alight. He had gotten what he wanted for the time being. He would leave her here to ponder over it, and he would visit again later. The Spirit of Fire roared into appearance behind him, and he hopped up onto the hand that would carry him home, his eyes never leaving the wide, shocked ones of the Itako.

"I will see you later, my Anna…"

He was gone in a whirl of fire.

Anna brought a hand to her lips, the kiss lingering there with the sweet taste of him.

The last flower fell from the tree, leaving it defenseless….

--------Owari!--------

Hope everyone caught the implications that came with the last flower at the end. I don't know if I really like this fic, since I feel sort of OOC, but then, that's the glory of fanfiction.

Please R&R! Hope you liked this, my Hao-sama


End file.
